Month: February 2019

Maleek Jackson: An extraordinary Tale of Incarceration to Inspiration

February 20, 2019 Authors, Business, Inspiration 46:19

The 5th of 13 kids in a family that had no adult guidance, Maleek Jackson found himself in trouble early and often. Drug dealing, burglary, B&E, as he says, “I did it all except rape and murder.” At age 16, he was tried as an adult and sent to prison on an 8 to 16 year sentence. Inspired by a friend in prison who kept asking him, “What’s your plan when you get out?”, Maleek started to think more and more about that plan. He decided to get his GED, then started boxing and leading workouts for fellow prisoners.

Released after 10 years, he had an encounter with Bernard Hopkins, who hired a trainer to work with him. When Maleek’s trainer, boxing manager Danny Davis, had to leave the city for bouts, he left Maleek in charge of the gym. Gaining confidence through experience, Maleek discovered that he had a knack for personal training. He began to pick up his own clients, and within a few years, he decided to strike out on his own.

You can find Maleek now at Maleek Jackson Gym in Northern Liberties, where he trains people such as rapper Meek Mill, chef Mike Solomonov (Zahav, Federal Donuts), and NFL quarterback Joe Flacco. As remarkable of a personal narrative as you will ever hear, this is the most inspiring interview we’ve done yet.

Thanks to El Camino Real for being a most gracious host.

If you enjoy it, do us a solid and give us a 5 star review and even better, a short review. Thanks for listening! 

LINKS:
Maleek Jackson: Instagram/Twitter/Gym

El Camino Real: Instagram/Twitter/Facebook

Danya Henninger: Billy Penn, Beers, and the Future of the Press

February 4, 2019 Authors, Food & Drink 34:27

Danya Henninger is a rarity. She’s from NYC, but considers herself a Philadelphian. She dropped out of an Ivy League university. And, more importantly, she holds a position that few women in the news industry attain—Editor-in-Chief. Danya is the Editor-in-Chief of the Philly news site BillyPenn.com.

Billy Penn is unique in the way it delivers news. They have a staff of full-time reporters that work on original and fascinating news stories affecting all regions of Philly, but they also curate and share stories from social media and other news outlets that they believe are important for their readers. This novel approach to presenting news to readers and Danya’s extensive history of writing about Philly made her an obvious choice for an episode of The Philly Blunt.

Danya arrived in Philadelphia in 2008 and has taken the city by storm. She started out doing food and drink writing. She went on to win a Pen & Pencil local news award for her freelance reporting. She then became culture editor at Billy Penn before becoming the Editor-in-Chief.

We sat with Danya at Brauhaus Schmitz on South Street. She told us about her beginnings in New York City, her short-lived time at Brown University, and how she considers herself a true Philadelphian. Danya is also working with a coalition of Philly news agencies to put forth a more collaborative effort in investigating stories pertinent to Philly and in delivering these stories to all segments of Philadelphia’s population.

Our interview with Danya also contains one of the better Philly Blunt segments to date. For her last meal, she picks a Philly Pizza joint. Which one? You’ll have to listen to find out.

LINKS:
Danya Henninger: Twitter/Instagram
Billy Penn (Twitter/Facebook/Instagram)
Brauhaus Schmitz: Twitter/Facebook/Instagram